


The Ocean

by patroklassy



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Afterlife, Fluff, M/M, Mike makes a brief appearance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 02:51:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10630617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patroklassy/pseuds/patroklassy
Summary: When Levi dies, he makes sure Erwin finally gets to fulfill one of his dreams: he takes him to see the ocean.





	

Levi almost laughs when he sees him. “So they’ve sent me to hell after all? Figures.”

Mike grins back at him. “I was going to take you to visit someone, but if you’re going to be like that, maybe I won’t bother now.”

Despite the lightness of Mike’s voice, Levi feels as though someone’s lodged a large, sharp stone in his gut. “He . . . he didn’t come himself?”

Laughter erupts from Mike’s chest. “Don’t look at me like that, Levi! You look like a drowned cat. Don’t worry, he was just sleeping. He doesn’t know you’re here yet. I thought you could surprise him.”

#

“Erwin?” Mike calls, opening the door a crack.

Levi stands a few feet back, clenching and unclenching his fists. He wants to tear that door down himself.  

He hears shifting, the flutter of book pages, the creaking of a chair. Then footsteps.

His heart pounds. His throat feels too narrow for air to pass through. _Erwin. Erwin._

A familiar voice calls, “What’s up, Mike?”

He’s still a step or two from the door, but that voice alone is enough to make Levi dizzy. He almost collapses.

Then the door is opening like a curtain drawing back on a stage, the suspense almost too much to bear. Levi sees his shoulder, arm still missing, and his leg; half his torso; his right cheek. Their eyes meet; Levi feels the burn of tears.

The movement of the door stops, a heartbeat of disbelief.

Then it’s swinging wide with such force that it bangs against the wall, and Mike’s stumbling out of the way, and Levi’s falling to the ground with Erwin on top of him.

And he’s kissing Erwin. A lot.

Mike’s voice reaches him from a distance, light with humour: “I’ll uh, leave you two to it.”  

#

They lie in Erwin’s bed. Levi’s the big spoon.

He kisses Erwin’s bare shoulder and says, “I want to take you somewhere today.”

Erwin’s head raises a little, hair mussed, eyes closed. Levi’s heart stutters a little every time he catches a glimpse of Erwin’s sleepy face. “Where are you taking me, Levi?”

He kisses under Erwin’s ear this time. “It’s a surprise. Somewhere Mike said you never went. I’ve wanted to take you there for a long time.”

#

Erwin stumbles, the blindfold tight over his eyes, but Levi still has one hand balanced on his hip and the other holding his hand to guide him; when he stumbles, a slight pressure on his hip from Levi is enough to set him right again.

“Wait, pause a moment here.”

Erwin sways to a halt at Levi’s instruction, trying not to blink against the blindfold. Levi’s hands leave him a moment, reappearing again at his left ankle.

“Lift your foot for me. I’m stealing your shoes and socks.”

“What on earth for?” But Erwin obliges, lifting his foot and feeling his shoe loosen and slide off, followed by his sock. The feeling of Levi’s fingers grazing the sensitive, bare skin makes his foot tingle.

“For the needy,” Levi jokes.

Erwin places that foot down and as he lifts the other, he finds that he doesn’t quite recognise the soft, dry feeling beneath his bare foot. It’s reminiscent of the sand on the riverbanks, but finer, lighter, more gentle. The other shoe and sock disappear and Erwin curls his toes into whatever’s beneath him. He can smell salt. Wind whips his hair.

He knows exactly where Levi has brought him but he won’t let the words settle in his head: half because he doesn’t want to get his hopes up in case he’s somehow mistaken; half because he wants to experience the full surprise when Levi finally takes away the blindfold. 

“It’s not far now,” Levi says, and one hand takes Erwin’s again, the other settling back on his hip. When Levi starts to walk, Erwin moves with him.

The sand beneath his feet starts to dampen. The smell of salt grows sharper. Birds caw loudly, and Erwin feels Levi flinch as one flies close overhead.

Erwin’s been able to hear the waves crash since before Levi took his shoes, but he’s been imagining it as thunder rolling through the sky. He doesn’t want to ruin Levi’s surprise.

_Crash_. _It’s just thunder. Will I see the lightning through my blindfold? Crash._

“Here. No, quick, back a step.”

Too late. The cold water rushes around Erwin’s toes and a smile splits his face as he hears Levi curse. The water recedes, trying to suck away the sand from beneath his feet, and Levi’s hands settle either side of his head.

“It’s not much of a surprise now, but ready, Erwin? Three—two—one—”

The blindfold lifts away and Erwin blinks against harsh sunlight reflecting off the wide sweep of glittering, shifting water—the ocean. The next wave crashes through, a regenerating line of replacements marching in behind it. Breathless laughter escapes Erwin.

“Levi? Levi, I—” He turns to Levi, searching for the words to express _this_ , but finds himself speechless and kisses Levi instead, pulling him backwards so the water rushes around their ankles, their calves, their knees. Neither had a chance to roll their pants up but Erwin doesn’t care. The water drags at them.

When he finally has to stop for proper breath Levi looks up at him with guarded happiness. “So . . . do you like it?”

“ _Like_ it?” They’re almost up to their waists now. Another glance across the ocean—at the water that doesn’t seem to end, the birds, the shift from soft sand into rugged coastline—renders Erwin once again speechless, so he resorts back to kissing.

Levi clearly accepts his enthusiasm as genuine, and in their collective eagerness they stumble together, tangled in each other’s limbs as they fall and splash and become submerged beneath a wave. Levi bursts to the surface first, spluttering, and Erwin follows more calmly, remembering the days of leaping into the river as a boy. He kicks himself onto his back, tipping sideways a moment, then finds his balance and manages to float there.

Levi settles with his head above the water, watching him. “You know how to swim?”

“This is just buoyancy,” Erwin replies. “Try it, Levi. You just use your hands to help you balance. See?” He lifts one hand up to demonstrate how he moves it to keep afloat.

He smiles as he drifts gently, keeping his eyes on Levi, who kicks back and sinks and kicks back and sinks with growing frustration—frustration that Erwin can only find endearing. He knows how much Levi hates not being able to do something.

“Here,” he says at last, still smiling, still breathless because beneath the grand dreams of proving his father’s theories and saving humanity, he had always kept simpler dreams hidden from sight: the ocean, domestic life, Levi. He could have visited the seaside any time since his death, but he refused to see it without Levi.

He sets his feet back to the sandy bottom and moves to Levi’s side, putting one hand to the back of his neck, the other to the small of his back.

“What are you doing—?” Levi starts, shifting to stand again, but Erwin keeps him in place.

“Helping you,” Erwin explains. “Kick back again. I’ll hold you up until you can float on your own.”

Levi does as instructed, and Erwin marvels at the weightlessness of him underwater, just a minute pressure resting lightly on his hands. He can feel the muscles in Levi’s back, the way they shift and twitch as he adjusts himself. They’re not in any danger—and they’re already dead, after all—but the way his hand cups Levi’s neck and part of his skull makes Erwin feel like he’s holding Levi’s life in his hands. It’s a comforting feeling to him; the sense that he’s offering security with no real fear or danger.

Erwin bends his head to kiss Levi again, a momentary lapse in concentration on both their parts that causes Levi to plunge downwards, but after a few more minutes of floating with Erwin’s aid, Levi manages to float on his own. Erwin kicks back onto his back next to him, peaceful.

#

They trek back to the shore hand in hand. The sun is setting, the sky and ocean set in brilliant reds and golds.

On the dry sand they sit, watching the sun get lower and lower. Levi rests his head on Erwin’s shoulder. After a time, Erwin shifts and lies down with his head in Levi’s lap. He gazes up at Levi and Levi gazes back, smiling helplessly at each other as the dusk closes in around them.

They have nobody waiting on them, and nowhere to be.

 


End file.
